Re: Conjunctivitis in Titmice?
BlkVulture@aol.com
Wed, 14 Oct 1998 09:21:41 EDT
Paula, et al,
I have never seen conjunctivitis in titmice. However, last winter I observed
it both finch species that frequent my feeders, goldfinch and purple finch.
(For some reason I have no house finches. I had a few show up in spring and
early summer, but they left not long after they arrived. I know, poor me.) I
was unaware that it crossed into all finches. Apparently it does. Whether
the titmouse is an isolated incident or has other systemic things wrong with
it, who knows. Perhaps it is suffering from the finch disease.
There was a day early last spring that I looked out and saw a purple finch on
the ground, near my feeders. I noticed it was blind in both eyes. I had
never seen this before. Usually they only survive long enough to get it in
one eye. Much to the delight of a sharpie, I am sure. Or perhaps they fly
into a tree. I went outside to examine the finch. It flew. It went up to
about 15 feet, then turned and fluttered back to the ground, hitting it
slightly harder than I think it wanted. Absolutely pathetic. So I walked
over to pick it up. It flew again. Same deal. Broke my heart. The third
time, I got it. (No fool I.) I looked at it, and one eye was totally shut,
and the other eye was also totally shut. So I put the bird in a cat carrying
case. Plastic one, with the grate in front. (Small amount of irony
there....) I found the bird on a Saturday, and knew I would not be able to do
anything treatment-wise for it until Monday. I put a water dish and birdseed
into the cage with it, gave it a stick and a rock to perch on, and expected it
to die over the weekend.
It didn't die. Monday morning I called a local vet who rehabs animals and
birds. (Doctor Dove in Gainesville, VA). I was surprised that this thing
could be treated. He wrote for Neosporin opthalmic solution. One drop, each
eye, tid. Fortunately I have large quantities of drugs at my disposal, and I
did not have to pay a whole lot for the drops. I began treating the bird.
After 48 hours, I was getting concerned that the eyes were permanately
damaged, since they were not responding to the antibiotic. Then they started
to open. One opened much quicker than the other. After about 10 days, both
eyes were completely opened. Needless to say, the more the bird could see,
the less he liked his surroundings. Towards the end it became difficult to
reach into the cage and grab him. More often than not, he took a lap or two
around my mudroom before I could pluck him out of the air. I figured it was
good exercise for him.
Once he was ready, I released him. He flew away. Never saw him again.
Probably got picked off by a northern shrike up in Nova Scotia. Oh well. Not
much I can do about that.
Cheers,
Todd Day
Jeffersonton, VA
BlkVulture@AOl.com